Selective photocatalytic lignin biomass conversion

如果未来的“氢经济”是用氢作为燃料和能源载体来取代化石能源，那么大量的可再生廉价氢必须可用。一个可能的选择是通过阳光催化水分解。通过将氢气生产与高附加值流相结合，可以使氢气负担得起。该项目的目的是生产一种稳定的混合多相催化剂系统，能够氧化来自木质素生物质的有机底物，作为从水中产生可见光氢的辅助物。其意义在于利用生物质、水和阳光为工业提供燃料和有机化学品，并利用阳光催化修复废水。

If the prospective ‘hydrogen economy’ is to use hydrogen as a fuel and energy carrier to replace fossil sources, vast amounts of renewable cheap hydrogen must be available. A likely candidate is catalytic water splitting by sunlight. The hydrogen can be made affordable, by coupling hydrogen production to a higher value-added stream. The aim of this project is to produce a stable, hybrid heterogenous catalyst system able to oxidise organic substrates derived from lignin biomass as an adjunct to visible light hydrogen generation from water. The significance will be to provide fuels and organic chemicals for industry from biomass, water and sunlight and catalytically remediate waste water with sunlight.